Today In Pop Culture: Elvis Gets A Promotion

By Jeffery X Martin

Back when military service was mandatory in the United States, no male was immune from getting called up. There were ways around it, if you had the stroke to pull some strings, but most men at that time ended up in the employ of the Armed Forces. Some people looked forward to it, having a real desire to serve their country. It was an honorable thing, not just a career or a last chance to make something of themselves before going to jail. They yearned to give something back, to defend the country with their lives, if necessary.

Some of those guys were celebrities. That’s interesting, because famous people didn’t have to go. Famous people don’t have to do anything. They could have gotten out of it. A public figure could get a medical deferment or come up with some reason why participating in the service was inconvenient for them. And when you’re making money hand over fist, and you have all the girls in the world clamoring for your attention, the call to arms gets tuned out pretty quickly.

So why would Elvis Presley, of all people, decide to join the Army?

Elvis wasn’t just a star in 1958, he was The Star. He was a hero to the young and a living nightmare to the Establishment. Kids loved him for his rebellious nature and his overtly sexual stage persona. Their parents were afraid Elvis would unleash a hormone tsunami that the country would never recover from.

Elvis’s manager, the openly Southern Colonel Tom Parker, was well aware of the hostility towards his client. When Elvis’s draft notice came in, there was an offer for Presley to join the Special Services. Instead of fighting, he would be entertaining the troops and given priority housing. Parker felt this would be a mistake. When famous folks joined the Special Services, it was known as “the celebrity wimp-out.” Elvis Presley was no wimp.

On March 24, 1958, Presley traded his blue suede shoes for combat boots. He was sworn in and taken to Fort Chaffee, Arkansas. After four days there, he was moved to Fort Hood, Texas, where he completed basic training.

From a publicity standpoint, this move to the military worked wonders for Elvis. Suddenly, he had gone from being a threat to America’s golden virgin daughters to being an upstanding young man, a brave soldier, gung-ho for the red, white, and blue.

Truth was, Elvis was furious. He didn’t want to be drafted, and he sure as hell didn’t want to be a regular GI. He didn’t understand why Parker couldn’t get him out of the draft. Parker reassured Elvis that if he could hack it for two years, he would be an even bigger star than he was when he went into the service.

Good old Colonel Tom was right. As the old adage says, “Absence makes the heart grow fonder,” and America missed Elvis when he wasn’t around to offend their sensibilities with his pelvic gyrations. RCA Records, Elvis’s label, dipped into Elvis’s pile of unreleased recordings and kept cranking singles out. This move kept Elvis’s career alive, and two years in the military helped revamp his public image.

On this date in pop culture, Elvis was promoted to the rank of Sergeant. Less than three months later, he was honorably discharged from service with a medal for Good Conduct.